The Opening Bell: Where currencies start on Wednesday, November 14, 2018

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By Dan Bell

The NZDUSD opens at 0.6751 (mid-rate) this morning.

The British pound is the standout performer over the past 24hrs after British and European Union negotiators reached a draft withdrawal agreement, the first step in finalising Britain’s divorce deal from Europe.

UK prime minister Theresa May has summoned ministers to an emergency cabinet meeting scheduled for tomorrow afternoon UK time, and is meeting with every minister for one-to-one talks this morning. Should cabinet sign-off on the agreement the EU is expected to hold a special Brexit summit on the 25th Nov after which the British parliament will then need to ratify the deal with a final vote that would likely take place in mid-December.

At this stage it appears that Italy are refusing to amend draft budget plans that are outside EU fiscal rules. Italy has been given until midnight tonight European time to present a revised budget but its populist government is holding firm with the Italian Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio saying “the only way to respect European rules is to pass a suicidal budget that would take us into recession.”

Crude oil prices tumbled for the 11th consecutive session and are fast approaching multi-month lows after Donald Trump called for lower prices and a refrain from cutting production. Trump was reacting to comments from a Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih who said OPEC will cut its oil production by up to 1 million barrels a day from October production levels.